I took a quick glance out my window. Only an old lady taking her dog for an early evening walk. I looked again at the calendar. Nothing changed. I pinched myself. Nope, not a dream. The time was right.
Giddiness overcame me as I threw open the door to my closet and brought out my costume. It was an almost perfect copy of Altair's robes. The primary difference was that these robes were colored gray along with a couple other adjustments and bits that were either missing or there. I didn't really mind that much. It took forever and a half to get it in the first place.
I looked at the clock. It was about 7 P.M. The party was at eight. I had an entire half hour to prepare. “Perfect.”
The robes were comfortable, and I felt extremely awesome in them. The only bummer was that I lacked the hidden blade and the throwing knives. I did, however, own a sword. A friend gave it to me after he won the lottery. Quite a shame he’s dead now.
Should I bring it with me? It is a real weapon after all. Meh, I should be fine as long as I don't act like an idiot.
I took the sword from its sheathe and swung it around a little bit. All I knew about swords was that the pointy end goes in the other guy. Other than that, I knew pretty much nil about swordsmanship. After a few cautious swipes, I sheathed it and attached it to my costume.
I was pretty much set to go. The clock read 7:05 P.M. The party was only two streets away.
Driving or sneaking? … Yeah, I think I know the answer to that question. Life is boring without a risk or two.
I threw on my hood and went outside. I closed my door as silently as I could, then I ran into my backyard and jumped my fence. I wandered in the direction of the party as stealthily as I could. The crunch of the grass beneath my feet made me feel wary. I nearly got spotted by two other costumed people when I came to a gap between the fences. One was cosplaying as Dante from the Devil May Cry series. The other was cosplaying a pony. I backtracked onto my butt when I saw them. Thankfully, they didn't notice me. It would be difficult to explain to my neighbors why I was sneaking on their lawns with a bladed weapon.
“So why exactly are you cosplaying as a character from a little girl’s show?” ‘Dante’ asked to his companion.
“For one, because I can. It’s also something new, damn it. I’m tired of wearing my Grim Reaper costume every time,” the brony, who I recognized was cosplaying Blueblood, responded.
Now I wasn’t a brony myself. It’s just that I took a look at what’s popular on the Internet and found that stuff there. I watched the show whenever I was bored. And now I’ve just recently finished season three. No, that does not make me a brony. I just watched it because I was bored. Right? Right.
I waited until they turned the next corner and got up to start sneaking again. That is, if I hadn’t spotted something lying beside my hand in the grass. The kleptomaniac inside me that I let out whenever I played video games urged me to take it. A closer look revealed that it was partially embedded into the ground. A little bit of effort and it was in my hand.
It was a silver ring. It shined in the moonlight. I felt a strange compulsion to wear it.
What the hell is jewelry doing on Old Abe's lawn? The old coot moved out two weeks ago.
I turned it over, revealing a tiny patch of rust on the outer part. Aside from the rust, it looked rather new.
Nah. He wouldn't have forgotten something like this. He always was attached to his stuff.
Well, it looked like nobody was looking for it. Might as well keep it. I moved to put it in a pocket, but I hesitated as the compulsion struck me again.
No! It’s rusty. You can get tetanus if you get yourself cut with it. But then again, there aren’t really any sharp parts. Ah screw it.
I put it on my right hand’s ring finger. Immediately after it slid into place, a black liquid seemed to excrete from it. Immediately, I tried to wrench it off, but I couldn't move. I could only watch as the liquid crept over my body.
This is gonna suck. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I woke up to a throbbing headache. I groaned and held my head. Fortunately, the surface I was lying on was soft.
Wait, soft?
I managed to pull myself into crouching position. Then I opened my eyes, and immediately regretted it. I was momentarily blinded by the amount of light entering my eyes, which did nothing for my headache if I may add. Then I opened my eyes again.
The colors were the first thing to hit me. It was extremely bright and vivid. Then I noticed my surroundings. I was crouching near the foot of a somehow-familiar looking tree in a forest. I stood up and noticed I still had my costume on.
Considering my environment, I was actually pretty glad I had it. This sword wasn’t for show. As soon as the thought made its way through my head, I pulled the sword from its sheath.
Rusted. That was the word that described it. The sword had patches of rust on it. I stared at it for a few seconds before shaking my head. I wasn’t even going to try to explain that.
Speaking of rust…
I looked at my right hand and my suspicions were confirmed. I still had the damn thing on my finger. I felt a mixture of shame, anger, and fear entering my mind. I quickly got a hold of the ring and tried to yank it off. Keyword: tried.
Somehow, it wouldn’t budge an inch. Believe me; I almost tore my finger off trying to. Frustrated, I sulked in the shadow of the tree. Then I heard it.
Who dares disturb my rest? An evil and dark voice came from everywhere.
My brain jumped into overdrive. I jumped up and waved my sword around. I cut through air like an idiot.
… What the hell was that? I mean really? That was pathetic as shit. OH! Uhm I mean, WAS THAT THE BEST-
Too late. I managed to figure out where he was.
What the hell are you and what are you doing in my mind?
Shit. Ah well. To answer your question, I am the Ring of Corruption. And I am here because you are an idiot who picks up random objects without thinking about the consequences.
What.
Hey, here’s a tip. Look up.
I followed the ring’s advice and looked up. Above me were two very familiar alicorns. And they didn’t exactly look friendly. They were both wearing armor as if they were going to battle. And as my luck would have it, they were looking in my general area.
I didn’t want to take my chances, so I stood rooted to my spot. The two alicorns descended and landed on the bright side of the tree. It was at that point that I silently pressed myself against the tree, trying to avoid a panic attack.
There’s no way.
Keep saying that. It’ll most definitely help us out.
Fuck off Mr. Sarcasm. I don’t need your shit right now.
I leaned around to see the smaller alicorn say something, “Art thou sure that the source of the darkness We felt was here, sister?”
The larger alicorn, which by now I was pretty sure was Celestia, replied, “There was no mistake sister. We know that the cad was here. It is likely that the wretch fled.”
Luna stomped her hoof on the ground, leaving a horseshoe imprint on the ground, “Then We must not waste time! We will leave for Everfree at once! Captain Blunt Hoof must be notified about this incident.”
Celestia frowned, “Did thou forget about the Court Mages? The Arch Mage should be able to track him down with his Eyes.”
Luna rolled her eyes, “Again with the Mages? We have had enough of their insolence.” She flared out her wings, “If thou needs Us, We will be forming a few search parties.” She took off at the last word.
Celestia sighed, “We have not even combed through the area. Methinks that Our sister is growing a little spoiled. And she was the one who could see through shadows too.” She shook her head and took off after Luna.
Whelp, we’re fucked.
I felt an idea worm its way to the front of my mind.
I highly doubt that asking them to purge me from you is a good idea.
It retreated a bit.
While they were busy chit-chatting, I took the liberty of binding myself to your soul.
It backed up considerably.
So purging me would kill you.
It crammed itself in the back of my mind along with the rest of my darkest thoughts.
I started pacing around, having detached myself from what I was pretty sure was the Golden Oaks Library when the alicorns left, “Who the hell would make something like you?!” I growled out. There were actually several beings, fictional and non-fictional, that I knew would want something like that. But who cares? I’m wandering around in a land of order carrying around an artifact with corruption in its name. The fact that I narrowly evaded discovery through the sheer dumb luck of having been in the shade of the tree while Luna, who could apparently see through shadows, was preoccupied with talking to her sister and did not search the area for some reason was not helping my mood.
… ‘Ring of Corruption’ isn't my name. It was the title given to me. And you know that I can hear both your conscious and subconscious thoughts.
Alright, alright. Now would you kindly explain your unholy existence?
It was starting to rain, but I didn’t care. I needed information. Now.
I’ll give you a quick run-down then. My creator was called ‘The Spirit of Corruption’, ‘Corruption’ or ‘The Corrupter’ because his name was nigh unpronounceable. You should’ve seen his face when one of the other guys tried to say it. So he stopped saying his name and just gave his title-
I know this is very interesting for you, but can you hurry up with it?
Sheesh. Fine.
The rain started coming down in bucket’s worth. I looked around for some shelter. Answers are good and all, but not having pneumonia is better.
An immortal who called herself ‘Truth’, taunted him for not having an artifact of his own . So he threw a tantrum and refused to speak with Truth for a decade. When he got over it, he tried making an artifact. I was the product.
While I was ‘talking’ with him, I managed to find a road. Roads meant civilization. Then I remembered that civilization was most likely talking equines. I needed to have a plan of action before first contact. So I turned right around and tried to get the hell away.
“Hey you!”
Keyword: tried. Damn that’s getting old.
I turned my head to look at the caller. It was what I feared most at the moment. A pony. And he was trotting towards me.
Don’t act suspicious.
No shit Sherlock.
“It’s raining hard here. And you have that look on your, well, eyes that tells me you’re a bit lost. How about you stay with my family tonight?”
Dafuq.
Don’t you remember the show? These beings are rather naïve and friendly.
Oh yeah.
I nodded.
“Follow me,” the pony said. Seeing that I had no other choice, I followed him. The dirt under my feet felt as real as the dirt from my world, even if it was a bit brighter.
It didn’t take long. During the trek, I noticed that he had a hammer and sword crossed into an X as a cutie mark.
Blacksmith maybe? Might be military.
Why are you thinking in fragments?
Shut up. You don’t even belong here. Don’t judge me.
This coming from the self-proclaimed kleptomaniac.
Touché, ‘Ring of Corruption’.
How about we stop talking now?
Because of me not paying attention to where I was going, I bumped into my host, “We’re here.”
From what I could make out, his house was rather large. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another building, “Are you coming in or what?”
I looked forward to see that the pony was inside the doorway looking back at me, “I’m coming in, just taking a look around first.”
I followed him inside, ducking under the doorway as I entered. The host held out his hoof, “Name’s Tempered Steel.” I shook his hoof, “So what’s yours?”
I haven’t thought this through.
Maybe you should use your real name?
No. There is no way in hell am I going to use that when I can make a better one. Hold up, I have an idea.
I know. Same mind, remember?
“My name is Altaïr.”
Steel started walking down the hall, “I’ve heard stranger. Let’s go eat.” I followed him, a neutral expression on my face.
The inside of the house was rather spacious. The ceiling was a full meter over my head so it didn’t sink in quite as much that I was no longer among my species. We passed by a few rooms as we walked to wherever the food was. One of them was just a hall connecting to what I suspected was the shed I saw outside.
We rounded a corner and entered the room directly after it. Inside were three other ponies, all of them scrambling to fix the table in the middle of the room. Tempered Steel stomped his hoof on the wooden boards. Everybody stopped what they were doing and went up to greet him.
After he nuzzled each of them affectionately, he gestured towards me with his hoof, “Everypony, I’d like you to meet our guest here for tonight.” The youngest one waved at me, “Hi!” she said, “My name is Sunshine!” I nearly recoiled when she came up next to me and poked at my leg. “What are you anyways?”
A yellow earth pony with a happy face cutie mark is called Sunshine. Sounds generic to me.
Steel sighed, “Can you please stop poking our guest, Sunshine?” While he was saying that, a brown earth pony pulled his sister back. “Let me go! I can walk by myself,” Sunshine said in an annoyed tone.
As his sister sulked at the corner of the room, the brown earth pony looked at me apologetically, “Sorry, she does that all the time,” he apologized, “Anyways, my name is Dusty-“ he patted the gray pegasus beside him, “-and this is Sharp Steel.”
Sharp Steel eyed my sheath, “You’re a soldier?” he asked.
I was quick to respond, “No.”
“Mercenary?”
“No.”
“Bandit?”
“No.”
“Do you even know how to use that thing?”
“…No.”
Tempered looked at me incredulously, “How did you survive the trek here then? There are all sorts of monsters in the Everfree forest, not to mention the raiding parties from the Canine Khanate.”
Canine Khanate?
Don’t ask. It’ll make you look weird.
And why are you giving me advice?
Later, when we’re alone.
“Hello? Is anypony home?” I snapped out of the mental conversation to see Sunshine prodding my leg again. Dusty gave her a stern look. She sighed and backed away.
Tempered looked at me expectantly, “So how did you?”
There was only one explanation, “Luck, and a bit of stealth.” It was technically true, if you counted hiding behind a tree as stealth.
Sunshine perked up when I said stealth, “What did you hide from?”
Tempered sighed, “Sunshine, it’s time for bed.”
Sunshine’s ears drooped down and she grudgingly trudged out of the room. Tempered looked back at me, “You can take the guest room. It’s two rooms to the left.”
I offered him my thanks and walked towards my temporary room. Once I was sure that we were alone, I sat down on the bed, not bothering to remove my apparel.
Already thinking ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ are we? You adapt fast.
Just continue your story.
Fine. So Corruption made me. Since he wasn’t really an artificer, the best he could do was a simple ring. Of course, his ego couldn’t allow that. So he poured quite a lot of his energy into the finished product. To accomplish that, he put part of his soul into the ring. That was his first mistake. The soul fragment became independent of him, and he noticed it. But he didn’t destroy it. That was his second mistake. The independent soul fragment started showing signs of intelligence. Corruption hastily ‘programmed’ me to corrupt.
Programmed?
I was like an animal at first. And Corruption was not really subtle when he corrupts. So he forced his way into my primitive mind and made corrupting others the only thought in my head. After doing that, he withdrew from my mind and boasted to Truth that he made an artifact that was much better than any of her own.
He sounds really petty.
Saying that Corruption is petty is like saying an ocean is a puddle.
While we were conversing, I unhooked the sword’s sheathe from my belt and put it against the corner. The room wasn’t all that bad actually. The walls were painted, the floor was neat. The fact that the bed was just my size, considering that I was in Equestria, was rather surprising.
After a few centuries, my intelligence evolved from ‘primal’ to ‘sapient’. Unlike my owner, I grew to like corrupting through harsh truth and risky gambits. My owner preferred the opposite. He relished in deception, which was probably why he and Truth didn’t really get along.
What do you mean ‘was’?
Don’t interrupt me. Now, after a fierce argument on how we should corrupt other beings, Corruption decided that I was becoming dangerous. So he tried to destroy me. As you can clearly see, that didn’t work. He reached towards my mind again in an attempt to reclaim his soul. Unfortunately for him, he had a greedy soul. So instead of calling the fragment back, his soul left him in an attempt to merge with the fragment. His soul left behind his host body, which was some random bipedal, squid warlord. He always had a taste for the bizarre.
Before the transfer was complete, he realized what was happening. So he put a dimensional snare on me leading towards here, and cast me away to the nearest planet. I landed on Earth about three billion years ago. Really boring. Over the ages, people have worn me, but none had enough darkness in their soul to trigger the snare.
Are you calling me evil?
Well, you did kill three people in cold blood, one of them being a child. Of the hundreds who wore me, only half actually killed a person. And it was always because of revenge, self-defense, being a soldier, or being a vigilante. You were the first to actually kill for yourself.
So the cycle continued, with me getting lost, sold, or stolen from my owners. Then you found me and the snare activated. And then I bound myself to your soul. Now you are physically immortal. They can stab and shoot you, but you just won’t die. They can burn you to ashes or chop you to pieces, and the passive energy of my slumbering creator would eventually reform you in a matter of minutes.
Slumbering?
The Spirit of Corruption is still very much alive. But he’s effectively in a coma. Which brings us to the next topic at hand, using his power.
The sound of a sword being unsheathed broke me out of my mental conversation. I looked around to see Sharp Steel eyeing my rusty sword in disgust, “What is this crap? Blunt, rusty, did you just find this in the back of a cave?”
Sword’s enchanted. Don’t lose it.
“What are you doing in my room?”
Sharp put the sword back in its sheath, “I thought that you might be hungry,” he picked up an apple that I recently noticed was beside him and held it out. My stomach finally made itself known with a small gurgle, “Knew it.”
I sighed and took the apple, “Thanks.”
You can’t starve to death either.
I ignored it and tore off a small chunk. Sharp nodded and gave the sheath one last hard look before turning to leave. By the time I finished the surprisingly delicious apple, the house had gone dark, the last lantern blown out by Sharp as he exited.
So, should I finish what I was saying?
No, you just dumped a bunch of lore on me. The rest can be told tomorrow.
The awkwardness followed me back to the household and soon, I was greeted by the sight of Sunshine’s suppressed giggles and everybody else’s suppressed smirks. The plate that held my half-eaten breakfast was now empty, probably finished by Sunshine if her proximity to my plate meant anything.
I held up a hand, “Not another word.”
The suppressed smirks just got wider. I sighed and retreated out of the room. There was no way for me to salvage the situation. Instead, I went to retrieve my sword.
So what do you plan on doing now? There’s not really much you can do here.
What do you suggest then?
Twist some values, turn beings into their own antithesis, break some wills, take your pick.
Why didn’t I see that coming?
I attached the sheath to my belt and sat on my bed. The Ring had a point. What would I do and where would I go? I could return to Earth, but what do I have for me back there? A crappy house and five life sentences. Or I could start a new life here. A life of peace and contentment.
... Nah. Last night, you told me something about using his power. Please finish.
I knew you had it in you! Now, what we’re doing is not ‘magic’, what we’re doing is bending reality to suit us. Like Discord from the show.
How do I do it?
Just actively will something to happen. Try changing the color of your sheets.
I looked at the gray sheets.
Turn into yellow.
The sheets turned yellow. I would have been surprised if I hadn't expected it.
Turn back to normal.
The sheets went back to its original shade of gray.
Do I have any limits?
Use it to make gigantic changes at one time or several major changes in a short period of time and my maker’s soul will awaken and use you as his new host body. I shouldn’t have to tell you that that’s a bad thing for both of us.
How will I know my limits then? I don’t know what counts as major.
Pain. A lot of pain. That would be my master stirring a little. You’ll be safe once it ebbs away.
A loud knocking on the door startled me, “Coming!” I heard Tempered shout. I decided to stay in my room, just in case. I heard the door creak open.
“Captain! What brings you here?” I felt a shiver up my spine.
“Tempered Steel, thine Princess has asked me to gather up mine men to capture an evil sorcerer in the Everfree.”
I think he means us.
“Of course I’ll join you! But really, drop the language. Only nobles do that now.”
The other voice sighed, “Fine. The rest of the men are in the city. Gather up your weapons and armor. I’m giving you until the sun reaches its peak.”
It was then that I decided to sneak towards my open window.
“Hey, I have a friend here who can help us. He may not look much, but he’s an extra able body should we run into any threats.”
Fuuuuucckkkk.
Don’t run. This is the perfect opportunity to get to civilization. You get to be escorted by a guard with actual fighting experience to the closest city, and throw off some suspicion by being on a search party looking for you.
But the Princesses can sense us. How do you think did they almost find us when we first got here?
That’s because a lot of energy was released when we teleported, and any being with sensitivity to energy would have felt it. But you’re not exactly releasing energy right now. You can do stuff; just don’t go overboard with your ability.
I calmed down greatly after I heard that. It was a good thing that I calmed down too, because Tempered chose that moment to burst into my room. And I don’t think that jumping out of the window would help my reputation.
“Need a job?” ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
An hour later, I found myself standing in a group of about ten guards, all in their enchanted golden armor. Apparently, gold is a very good conductor of magic. Or so Tempered told me. A plain pony in armor with a distinctive look waved me over.
He stretched out his hoof, “I am Captain Blunt Hoof. Tempered Steel told me that you could help us.” I shook his outstretched limb, “I can help, provided I’m compensated appropriately.”
Blunt Hoof chuckled, “You freelancer types are all the same. You will be rewarded after the search party returns,” his gaze hardened a bit, “Just make sure everypony is in one piece when you return.”
With those parting words, he turned around and started talking to all of the other soldiers present. As noontime approached, more and more guards started to trickle into the city square. By the time the sun reached its peak, there were about fifty guards of various ranks standing around. Blunt Hoof then divided us into ten groups of five. Except for mine, which had six, including me.
“Our orders are to capture any practitioners of dark magic in the Everfree forest and the areas beyond it. We are to check every abandoned fort, witch lair, and burial field which we have cleared out in previous operations. If you encounter a Khanate raiding party, avoid killing them if possible. Party leaders are as follows: Ice Block, Tempered Steel…” I stopped paying attention at this point to look over my group. Three Earths, a pegasi, and a unicorn, all in plain armor with no distinctive markings.
A team of Redshirts. We could use them as meat shields while we run around and stab the threat in the back.
“… and Altaïr. That would be all.” My hood hid my look of surprise to everybody but Blunt Hoof, who was in front of everybody else. The pegasus in my group reared up, “But sir! He is not part of the Royal Guard!” she made no attempt to hide the disbelief in her voice.
Or we could murder her while no one is looking.
Was it just me or did I see him smirk, “With all due respect, Private, if Tempered is to be believed, then he has a much better track record than you.” The look on the pegasus’ face went from incredulous to angry to blank resignation in less than five seconds.
Blunt Hoof looked at the rest of us, “Any other objections?” his voice held a menacing tone, “Good. Then let us be off.”
The groups left one by one until only my group was left. I turned to the pegasus mare, “Any suggestions on where we should go?” She stared at me silently for a few moments before jabbing her hoof to the north-west, “Whitetail Cemetery. A large yet rather unknown cemetery. Good place for necromancers.” Her voice was as neutral as can be.
The ‘professional’ act then? She must be sore over you being the party leader.
As long as she doesn’t do anything stupid.
We walked in silence until we reached the destination. The pegasus wasn’t kidding. The cemetery was as big as a football field. She also wasn’t kidding about the necromancers. In the middle of the cemetery was a pony in black robes surrounded by half a dozen undead ponies. I glanced at my own group and stifled a groan. The three Earth ponies looked frightened but determined, the unicorn constantly looked back as if contemplating fleeing, and the pegasus still had a stoic face.
You could rush them anyway. You won’t die.
And let them see me get impaled? That would do wonders for their suspicion.
I motioned for them to move behind one of the house thingies that dotted the landscape. They complied almost too quickly. The pegasus turned to us, “Alright, now here’s the plan. Gold Rush and Whole Grain, you need to sneak to their right and wait for my signal to charge. Cherry Tap and I’ll sneak to their left. Altaïr here will guard Blueblood while he incapacitates the necromancer and his minions from afar.” I waited until she was done before pointing at the crossbow on the unicorn’s back, “Or we can just shoot him in the head.” Her eyes narrowed, “Our orders are to capture, not kill,” she hissed.
I felt my patience thin out, “I’d rather minimize casualties than risk your lives in an idiotic attempt to keep blood off your hooves.” I turned toward the unicorn, “Do you think you can do it?”
He nodded, although I felt panic radiate off him. He levitated the crossbow off his back and aimed at the necromancer, who was busy reanimating his ninth body. He looked hesitant. A frown made its way to my face. I don’t have time for this. I subtly used my power to push the trigger. The necromancer glanced towards us as the report sounded before getting domed by a bolt. His minions fell at the same time he did.
Boom. Headshot.
The Earth ponies looked relieved but also a little saddened. Blueblood wordlessly replaced his crossbow and started trotting away. I didn’t even have to look at the pegasus to know she was throwing me a hateful glare. I ignored her and walked up to the necromancer’s corpse. Around his neck was a small pouch containing a small book, a few gold coins, and a fancy dagger that was probably ceremonial.
The stench of the rotting cadavers nearby was very distracting, so I quickly took the pouch and left the bodies to their final rest. I caught up to the rest of my group as they left the cemetery, “Well, at least we eliminated the source of the dark magic,” Blueblood solemnly said.
“And saved us from doing it ourselves,” a gruff voice interjected.
Several dogs sprang from behind the trees and from within bushes. They wore simple iron armor and most had wooden clubs instead of the maces and spears I saw on some, but they greatly outnumbered us.
I would say three to one.
One dog stepped towards us with a grin on his face. His armor was very distinctive from the others. The chainmail undershirt, shiny chest plate, the symbol of crossed spears on the shiny chest plate, and the large halberd in his paws told me he was the leader.
“I am Deigo Noyan! Prepare yourselves!” he shouted.
I unsheathed my rusty sword. Behind me, I heard someone mutter, “We are so dead.”
The dogs charged at us, likely trying to overwhelm us with numbers. Some dogs were waving their weapons around wildly. I was quick to take advantage of that, I lengthened the weapons of the ones who were waving. I smiled a little as the dogs around them yelped in surprise and turned against them. The other dogs who I presumed were friends of the assailants, turned to aid their companions. The few who were not involved charged at us.
I deflected a spear with my sword and tackled the owner. Yelping in surprise, he lunged forward with his jaws open. I gave him rusty metal to eat and pushed the head off my sword. Seeing no immediate threat, I scanned the battlefield for any other combatants.
A few meters next to me, one of the Earth ponies was unconscious. Standing over her was a dog with a club, a problem I quickly remedied via sword to the back. The other two Earth ponies were faring quite well, ganging up against a single dog. Blueblood was busy disabling the dogs who survived the infighting. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the pale yellow hide of the pegasus. I turned to see her facing off against Deigo.
Growling, he poked at the nimble pegasus with his halberd. Focusing on the halberd, I made it denser. He poked at the pegasus a few more times before panting a little. Letting loose a frustrated snarl, he started sweeping the air with the axe part of his halberd. After a few swipes, his panting became a little more pronounced. Grunting, he turned and saw me blankly staring at the fight. With a start, he looked around and saw that he was the only one left of the raiding party. He snarled at the pegasus one last time before dropping his halberd and running.
Unfortunately for him, Blueblood spotted his shiny armor. Poor Deigo soon found a bolt in his knee. One of the Earth ponies provided us some rope. After a brief struggle, we had a prisoner of war in our hands, or hooves.
I looked over my group and saw no serious injuries, although some of the bruises looked nasty. The Earth pony that was knocked out woke up after a few minutes, slightly confused as to why we weren’t dead, but perfectly fine.
Aside from the occasional death threat from the dog, the rest of the trip was spent in wary silence. The sun was already setting by the time we got to the gate. The guards at the gate had a double take when they saw our delivery package. One of them managed to muster up the courage to approach him.
“Looks like your adventuring days are over,” he sneered.
Random locals trailed behind us as we ventured into the city square. By the time we arrived, there was a pretty large crowd jeering at the dog and cheering us on. Inside the square stood two other parties. I saw Tempered Steel walk up to me, his mouth slightly ajar.
“Are you sure you don’t know how to use that sword?” he muttered, still looking at Deigo.
“No, I definitely don’t know how to use it,” was my reply. Tempered gave me a confused look before shrugging. We talked about a few other topics as well. Apparently, his group gave up after going through six different forts and finding nothing.
He opened his mouth to say something when another search party returned. He nodded to me and cantered over to the other group. I saw a bench nearby and made a beeline for it. Hours of walking don’t feel good if you’re not used to it. The search parties were all starting to come back now that it was getting dark. Most arrived with no interesting happenings on their patrol. Finally, Blunt Hoof’s group arrived. I was already rather desensitized by surprises now, but I still wasn’t really expecting Blunt’s mouth to drop all the way down to the floor when he saw Deigo.
“Wha-!? But… how!?” he spluttered out. After calming him down, I gave a brief run down on what my group did. His newly restored stoic expression cracked a bit after I told him we were heavily outnumbered. I handed him the pouch and he asked me to stay put. I went ahead and complied, I didn’t really have much to do anyways.
I wonder how much he’s going to pay me.
You do realize that you can simply materialize money?
And cause inflation? I’d rather not.
A little while later, the mutterings of the crowd, which was slowly dispersing, became much louder and pronounced than before. I snapped out of my thoughts and saw that the crowd was staring at me. I stifled a sigh, “What the hell did I do to you guys?”
I heard coughing behind me. I slowly turned around. Behind me was Blunt Hoof, and two alicorns bent on my death or imprisonment. I resisted the urge to draw my weapon, stood up, and waited for them to make their move.
Celestia met my leveled gaze. After a few moments, she spoke up, “There art not many beings who can meet mine gaze. Tell Us, Altaïr, what art thou?”
“I am just a simple wanderer. There is not much else to tell.” Diplomacy skills activate.
“That cannot be all. A simple wanderer could not have laid low a necromancer and a Noyan one after the other.” Goddamnit Blunt Hoof.
“It was Blueblood that bested the necromancer, and while I did take down a few raiders, it was the combined effort of the group which captured him and decimated the raiding party. If you wish to commend someone, commend the entire group.” It’s always good to give credit where it’s due. You never know when a grudge pops up and stabs you in the back because you didn’t mention them.
Behind the alicorns, Blunt Hoof desperately looked at the crowd behind me before making a frantic ‘come here’ gesture. A few ponies walked into my peripheral vision. I turned my head and saw my group form up in a straight row.
Celestia smiled, “Indeed,” Luna turned to Blunt Hoof, “See to it that these members of the Guard get a promotion.” Blunt Hoof saluted, “Yes ma’am.” Then he walked away, but not before glancing at us and pointing to a large sack next to two Guards.
Luna caught me flicking my gaze to the sack, “Thy payment is the standard five bits hiring fee for a mercenary, as well as the four bits per hour mercenary rate. That sums up to twenty nine bits. However, for the capture of a Noyan, all the members of thine group will be given five hundred bits to split amongst yourselves.”
I could spot most of the members of my group sweat a little when Celestia mentioned five hundred bits. Only Blueblood kept his stoic gaze.
It must be worth a lot.
Yes. Gold coins are valuable. Thank you for pointing that out.
Celestia returned her gaze to me, “If thou ever needs work, just speak to Captain Blunt Hoof. Thou hast proven to be an asset. Now, We will leave you to discuss the splitting of the reward. We have a Noyan to imprison.” With those words, she and her sister walked away from us and towards Deigo.
My patrol group surrounded the bag as soon as they left the Princess’ attention, “So what’s the split?” Gold Rush eagerly asked while I counted out my pay from the sack, “You can split it amongst yourselves, I have no need for more gold,” Blueblood stated with no arrogance in his voice. I looked up to find him smiling good-naturedly at us.
I think I like this Blueblood better than the other one.
No kiddin’. Crossbow bolt for a mark is manlier.
“So a hundred to one then,” I chimed in. Five minutes later, we were done counting it out and I started missing paper currency.
This is going to be a bitch to carry around.
The three Earth ponies had already left a little while ago to get a container for the gold, leaving Blueblood to guard their money from any would-be thief. The pegasus, having already found a unicorn neighbor to levitate her stuff, walked up to me, an uneasy smile on her face, “Sorry if I was a bit rude to you today, it’s just that you were so similar to the dogs and I barely knew you. If we fought that necromancer, we might have been too tuckered out to fight the raiding party,”
I hid my surprise at her statement from her, “Apology accepted,” I said. Her uneasy smile turned into a relieved one, “If you need anything, just ask for Thunder Strike. I owe you one.” With that, she flew off, her unicorn companion letting out a surprised yelp and dashing after her.
I said my goodbye to Blueblood and started my search for an inn to stay in.
Really? ‘Inn to stay in’?
I found one near the entrance. It was dirt cheap, a bit a night. The innkeeper seemed kinda shady though. The Italian accent, handlebar mustache, shifty eyes, and a smile that just seemed a little bigger than normal were warning me to not mess with this guy.
I paid him for my room and went straight for the bed as soon as I stored my sack of bits in the closet. I was immortal. A shady innkeeper won’t scare me. I lay down and closed my eyes, my sword beside the bed. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Ring felt a presence nearby. Around it, silence reigned. Which meant that there was only one explanation. It was not physical. It focused on the presence’s energy and narrowed it down to its bearer’s thoughts. With a little bit of effort, the Ring entered its bearer’s dream.
It was a dark and stormy night. The night of its bearer’s first murder. Drawing on some of its own power, the Ring dispelled the dream. In the empty void, a frustrated sigh was heard, “We know thou art here! The necromancer’s death may have fooled Our subjects, but your malignant presence made itself known in the realm of dreams.”
You are not welcome here.
“Then come and face Us, craven filth!”
Such strong words, from a weakling!
The Ring could tell that he struck a sore spot when Luna replied, “WE ART NOT WEAK! WE ART THE NIGHT ITSELF! WE CONTROL THE MOON!”
Do you mean that tiny, pathetic rock which merely reflects the light of the sun? Face it, you are nothing compared to your sister. You are not worthy to face me. If the Ring had a mouth, it would have grinned. NOW BEGONE!
It drew on as much energy as it dared take without stirring his creator’s soul, and unleashed it in the form of a miniature sun exploding right where it guessed Luna was. Sure enough, he heard a yelp of pain followed by the presence vanishing.
Satisfied with its work, the Ring returned to the physical world, only for its metaphorical grin to be wiped off its metaphorical face.
I woke up to a mace smashing into my face. I felt my skull crack, but that feeling was soon replaced by it rapidly healing itself. The slasher smile that my assailant sported turned into a look of horror. Before I could react, he swung the mace at me again. Like before, I couldn't stop it from making impact. My skull immediately started healing itself. The assailant’s expression became more determined, “Why. Won’t. You. DIE!?” He swung the mace over and over.
By the fourth swing, my frazzled mind decided that I was pissed. With a quick thought, the mace clattered on the floor, its user turned into a slug. A slug with a handlebar mustache. I lifted up the slug with my power and shot him out of the open window.
That. Fucking. Hurts. Asshole.
Yeah, he kinda was. Oh, and Luna invaded your dream.
I’m guessing that we are still being hunted down.
You seem rather calm for a person being hunted down by immortals.
Would it be better if I started screaming my head off?
Point taken.
I went ahead and proceeded downstairs while I was conversing. Right now, the game plan was to avoid getting my soul ripped out and have fun while doing so. Upon hearing my stomach grumble, I inspected the innkeeper’s quarters for food. Unfortunately for me, I remembered how queasy I got the last time I ate. Then I remembered that I could warp reality.
After I finished eating my carrot-turned-burger, I went outside for a stroll. I felt my spirits rise a bit after seeing the ponies look at me with curiosity instead of hostility like they had yesterday when I first entered the city.
Just throw off suspicion.
Why?
So that I can have fun with my powers, duh.
Hold up there! You’re starting to sound like Discord.
Hmm. You’re right. But seriously, there’s nothing else to do.
Let me think. You could try to conquer the world.
Boring and cliché. It would be a piece of cake with my powers.
Become a paragon of righteousness?
I never liked the idea of a goody-two-shoes person.
How about being a card-carrying villain?
No. And did you go through my memories?
Of course.
My lips curved into a frown, unintentionally scaring a few foals who were staring at me.
I don’t recall giving you permission.
I had to. I wouldn’t have been able to communicate with the English language otherwise.
I ignored the Ring and stopped at the city square. Unlike yesterday, it was filled with civilians instead of soldiers. They weren’t milling around doing random stuff either, instead, they were all gazing at the makeshift stage in front of the town hall. On the stage were the Princesses themselves. This time, they were wearing armor like when I first saw them.
Celestia shifted around uncomfortably. While the action may have been very minor, it showed me that beneath the professional mask she wore, she was not used to wearing armor. I smiled as I remembered how long it took for me to feel natural in Altaïr’s robes. In direct contrast to her sister, Luna looked very much at ease and the determined look on her face was not as plastic as Celestia’s.
With the regal atmosphere around her, Celestia inspired loyalty and respect in the audience. She stomped one hoof. Immediately, all the whispering in the crowd died down. Luna stepped forward as well. Unlike her sister, her eyes wandered the crowd, as if daring any of them to stand up to her. Instinctively, some of the ponies took a step back. Luna saw this and wavered a bit before speaking up, “GREETINGS, CITIZENS!”
A few of the younger foals whimpered a bit at the sound of the Royal Canterlot Voice. I swear I saw Celestia mouth something that looked suspiciously like ‘Damnit, Starswirl.’ before stepping past her sister. A frown had crossed Luna’s face when the foals started whimpering, but now it was a glare directed at her sister when she stepped past her.
“Greetings to all of Our subjects,” the soft look on her face turned into a stern one, “We have dealt with all of Equestria’s internal problems, and now, We have decided to take the fight to the Khanate. No longer shall they raid and pillage defenseless homesteads! RAISE THE LEVIES!”
A thunderous cheer broke out from the crowd. As suddenly as they formed, the crowd dispersed, all of the locals preparing for battle. Soon enough, it was only me, a few stragglers, and the Princesses left in the square.
Once most of them were gone, Luna turned to Celestia. While I couldn’t hear them, it was pretty clear that Luna was pissed. Her sister abruptly interrupted her. As Celestia trotted back in the direction of the castle, Luna stayed behind. She sighed in frustration. She slowly turned around to join her sister when she saw something on the ground. I followed her gaze. She was looking at a certain slug with a handlebar mustache.
Ohshit.
She levitated him over to her. Her horn glowed a little brighter than before. She smirked and started trotting back to the castle, slug in her telekinetic grasp.
It was then that I noticed that I was just standing around in the corner of the square and that I was staring directly at the Princesses the entire time. I had garnered a little attention from the stragglers nearby and heard a few murmurs and the words ‘spy’, ‘sellsword’, and ‘two-leg’ being thrown around.
A stallion who appeared to be very drunk was stumbling his way to me. I quickly started walking away from the area before somebody either dies, or gets severely injured.
Or transforms.
That wasn’t necessary. Be quiet, and don’t respond to my subconscious. Lord knows how messed up that place is.
You’ve got that right. But it’s entertaining. Your thoughts on fried chocolate and the Red Sox are rather interesting.
I muttered a few unpleasant things as I walked to the castle. For some reason, the castle was the only building made of stone in the entire city.
We are in the middle of a forest. Think before you, uh, never mind.
I quickened my pace. I had to eliminate that slug somehow. I rounded a corner and spotted the entrance to the castle. As well as a path to what looked like a barracks. And a way to the infirmary.
Where the hell do I go now?
Who are you dressed up as?
Altaïr, why? Oh.
Wishing I had thought about it before, I thought about Eagle Vision and how it works and willed myself to have it. I immediately collapsed to my knees as an intense pain coursed through my body. Spots started appearing in my vision. Every single bone in my body felt like it was breaking over and over again. It was too much pain for me to handle.
“Are you okay mister?”
The pain, while still great, died down a little. I looked at the foal standing right beside me. Still in too much pain to speak coherently, I gave her a shaky nod. She looked anxiously at me before backing up a little.
The pain started to recede a bit more. I took advantage of that by standing up as quickly as I can and leaning against a nearby wall. The little filly stood about a meter away now.
“Are you sure about that? You were on that same spot for a long time. The only people I know who do that are the guards. I know that because my father is a guard and he told me-“
I tuned her out and looked at the sky. It was starting to get dark now. I had spent most of the day on the same spot. I thanked whatever deity was out there that I was in an alleyway and not out in the open.
Well, there goes our cover. And what the hell was that?
That was Corruption stirring. I’d advise not using your powers for a few hours.
Was giving myself Eagle Vision that big of a change?
You just gave yourself a fictional genetic ability. You just bent the entire universe to create something that never existed before. So yes, that was a big change.
Then why the hell didn’t you tell me that in the first place?
Just giving you a little taste of what Corruption can do if you fuck up and take reality warping too far. Rule number one. Avoid creating things. You’re lucky that what you just did was relatively minor. If I hadn’t cloaked your magic, you’d be surrounded by the Princesses and their guards in ten seconds flat. And even though I cloaked it, those with high magical perception would be able to detect it.
I skirted around the foal, who was still talking about something.
So… can I use Eagle Vision?
Go ahead. You already have it.
I grinned and triggered it with my mind. Immediately, the world was shaded with white and blue. I looked around and found what I was looking for. Golden hoofprints on the ground. I looked back and found that the foal was still talking. I tapped her on the head to get her attention.
“Hey, you better go home now. It’s getting dark,” I said impatiently. The pony’s eyes widened, “Oh no! I’m going to miss supper!” she exclaimed before galloping away. I tracked her with my eyes until her blue silhouette faded away. I turned back to the hoofprints before noticing something.
White means civilian, blue means ally. Why was she blue?
I shook my head.
It doesn’t matter. I need to find that slug.
The tracks trailed through the front entrance, and came out of the side. Moving to a different alleyway revealed that she went to the back entrance. After a failed attempt to parkour my way up the building beside me, I gave up and elected to simply move around the alleyways. A few close calls with guard patrols later, I found the entrance to a garden with golden hoofprints going through.
After making sure that nobody was around, I walked forward towards the entrance.
“Thank you very much Princess! I hope you send him to rot in the dungeons.”
I quickly backtracked back into the alley. I watched in horror, peering around the corner, as the murderous innkeeper walked out accompanied by Luna. He looked perfectly fine, aside from a slightly singed mustache. Luna nodded in response. She levitated a bag of bits from her saddlebag, which was filled with books.
“For any trauma he has caused you, as well as your silence.” Her tone dropped with the second part of her sentence. The innkeeper grinned nervously, “Of course, Your Majesty.”
The golden silhouettes of Luna and the innkeeper abruptly turned red.
After one final bow, the innkeeper dashed away. Luna cantered away after shaking her head and mumbling something that looked a lot like ‘mortals’. I was left alone with my thoughts.
Should we assassinate them?
I slowly shook my head.
No…
Are you really that worried about preserving the timeline?
A cocky grin appeared on my face.
I don’t really give a shit about the timeline. Let them do what they will. I am a true immortal. They can’t really do much against me. Magic Rainbow Beam? I can fucking dodge.
… I think your powers are getting to your head. You’re not invincible. If they separate my soul from yours, we’re done. Dead and gone.
I found a bench nearby and lay down on it.
What’s the point of living if you can’t have a little risk and excitement? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I felt my blood boil as I placed the books in their rightful places.
To think that that scoundrel went on a search party for himself? How despicable.
“Luna? Are you there?”
I heard the door open behind me.
“Luna, I came to apologize for today,” her tone was sincere as can be.
I turned to my sister, “Apologize for what? Sister, thou hath nothing to apologize for.”
Celestia winced at my words, “Sister, please drop the formalities. We are not in public. And you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t,” my monotone voice did nothing to disguise the sarcasm.
Celestia sighed, “I’m sorry that I took over, but you were too intimidating for the common folk. And you were using the Voice again.”
“Starswirl uses it to great effect.”
“Starswirl is a shut-in who doesn’t care what the public thinks of him. But you are not a mere court mage, you are a ruler. We don’t want soldiers in the battlefield who are afraid of their rulers.”
“Soldiers? Those cowards aren’t soldiers! Those are weaklings who would get slaughtered out on the field in the hundreds!”
“Luna, you don’t understa-“
How dare she?!
I stomped on the ground, “I don’t understand?! That may be so, but I understand well enough that you are getting soft! What happened to the Celestia who imprisoned Discord and ursurped his throne?!”
Celestia stared at me, “When you enter the war room tomorrow, you need to be calm. Do not let emotion control your decisions,” she said calmly.
I watched as she slowly made her way out of my room and closed the door. I briefly wondered whether I should tell her about Altaïr before his words rang through my head, ‘Face it, you are nothing compared to your sister. You are not worthy to face me.’
I levitated over some parchment and a quill.
Are you prepared to die, Altaïr? I will show you the power of the night!
With a groan, I pushed myself up and glared at the unflinching batpony watching me sleep. The pony’s response was to levitate a scroll out of his saddlebags and present it to me.
Too fucking early for this.
I snatched the scroll out of his grip and rolled it out.
To whom it may concern,
We, Princess Luna, have entrusted Our most worthy soldier to delivereth unto thou a proposition.
Our Sister is blinded by her own light. She desires to clash against the Khanate and end their siege on the grand city of Canterlot with the Everfree’s levies. We told her what We felt about this most foalish plan. We suggested to her that We use Canterlot as a distraction while We gather our forces from all around Equestria. We knew that this paltry force she gathered would not defeat Our foes, even if We were in the fray Ourselves.
Instead of accepting, she fostered wroth and rebuked Us, saying that she will not let innocent blood be spilled when it can be prevented. Now, We know thou art only a commoner mercenary. To the eyes of the nobles, thou wouldst be nothing. And because thou walkest on two limbs, most pony nobles would think even less of thy being. Those same attributes can also help Us win the war. The Dogs would not suspect anything of another two-leg as their main priorities lie with griffons and ponies. You are to blend in and strike at the heart. If thou wishest to knoweth more, thou wouldst have to report to Captain Blunt Hoof. The fate of Equestria rests in your hands.
Sincerely,
Princess Luna of Equestria
She sure laid it on thick.
I looked up and saw that the bastard who delivered the letter was nowhere in sight. After a few choice words, I got to my feet and sprinted to the barracks. Fortunately for me, dawn hadn’t arrived yet, so there wasn’t any traffic on the way.
Unfortunately for me, it’s still too fucking early for this crap.
You’re talking to yourself again.
I arrived at the crossroads and went right. To make sure everybody was as pissed as I was, I barged in and banged the door to the barracks. And then shit hit the fan.
“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” I do not know who said that, but I will pat him on the back if I ever find out.
Everybody got to their hooves as fast as they could and scrambled to get to their equipment. A groggy earth pony charged at me with a spear which I easily deflected with a shield I saw on the ground nearby. I backhanded him and leapt to the side to dodge a mass pegasi charge. The rest of the soldiers had already gotten over the initial confusion and were now just glaring at me.
I grinned, “’Sup ponies? Have a good night’s sleep?” Even that sounded annoying to me.
The sheer murder in their eyes almost made me crack up. Blunt Hoof slowly trotted over to me, the scowl on his face becoming less pronounced, “Let’s talk outside. Now.”
I almost tripped on a hoof on the way out. Fortunately for me, I saw it coming and hopped over the outstretched limb while shooting the offender a smug grin.
You’re an asshole. Just can’t help but point that out.
So what if I am? What are they gonna do about it?
Blunt Hoof turned to me, his normally blank expression somehow even blanker than before, “I assume you’re here on Princess Luna’s orders?” I gestured for him to go on, “Hmph. Your lack of professionalism disturbs me. No wonder why she chose you.” I gave him a blank look.
His ears twitched, “Let’s skip the formalities then. In the east, tensions are high among the dogs and the native griffons. A rebellion in the homeland would cause their forces to be withdrawn to protect their lands, and freeing Canterlot from their grasp as well. To ignite the fires of rebellion, you must provide a spark. You are to assassinate the Great Khan. Doing so will show the locals that they are not invincible. The time needed to elect a new Great Khan would also give you a chance to eliminate their other military assets and cause chaos. A griffon smuggler has agreed to move you across the border. Accomplish the mission within the week. Any longer and Canterlot might be lost.”
Time to drop the bomb.
“What makes you think I’ll actually agree to this plan of yours? My survival chances are low enough as is. And now you expect me to waltz right in their capitol after I took down one of their Noyans?”
He gave me a smug grin.
I never realized how annoying those things were if you’re on the receiving end.
“Don’t play word games with me. I’ve seen that look in your eyes. You’re bored. I’ve seen how you act. You spoke casually of the clash between your search party and the Noyan’s raiding party. Almost as if you didn’t really care about the lives of your enemies. The mischievous smile on your face when you woke up my men has shown me that you were bored and willing to cause trouble with the military to alleviate it. Now, you’re just trying to make your decision dramatic. You were going to accept anyway.”
I was stunned, though the only hint of emotion on my face was a half-smile, “You got me. Where’s the smuggler?”
“He will meet you near the western outskirts of Whitetail Woods at sundown. So you best be off now.”
I chuckled, “Oh, what would you do without me?”
“Stage a guerrilla war.”
“… Are you serious?”
He dropped the grin, “Of course I am. An alicorn may be worth a thousand unicorns, but we only have two and one is better off behind a desk than on the field. Shouldn’t you be somewhere right now?”
I took the hint and walked away. As usual, my mind whirred on and I was able to silence my subconscious once again by starting a mental conversation.
Thousand unicorns. Might need to note that.
I calculated the magic fields and found out that if you used conventional magic, you would equal eight hundred and fifty six unicorns. Of course, if you used that much power Corruption would take over and the power skyrockets into seven thousand and six hundred unicorns.
Are you sure it isn’t over nine thousand?
Nope. That level goes to Corruption’s original host.
Goddamnit.
IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!
“FUCK! YOU!”
A young stallion whose direction I was facing turned tail and fled.
Dude. Altaïr doesn’t shout. He just doesn’t. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Eagle Vision is a very nice thing to have. Especially if it’s almost sunset and your ride is ready to leave without you and you have no clue where the hell it is aside from a vague direction. Thankfully, I spotted the trademark golden hue in the corner of my eye.
Sparing no energy, I sprinted up to it. If it wasn’t surrounded by a golden aura, I could have mistaken it for a small merchant caravan. There were three wagons, each pulled by a pair of slave ponies. Or at least I thought they were slave ponies until I saw a certain pony with a golden mane and white fur. Having caught my eye, Blueblood nodded in acknowledgement. I scrutinized the other ponies and recognized the rest of my squad, Tempered Steel, and a few other ponies who I remembered seeing at the Search and Destroy debriefing.
Well played, Blunt Hoof.
From the lead wagon, a griffin stepped out of the driver’s place, a smile on his beak.
Wait, a smile on his beak? That’s not right. How the hell does that even work?
So what if they can smile? What are you gonna do about it?
Fuck. You.
The slightly creepy smiling griffon sauntered over to me and held out a claw. After a moment’s consideration, I shook it. The serene smile on his face was creepy as hell.
“Shall we be off?”
The polite tone grated on me slightly. It clearly wasn’t a request.
All of the wagons seemed to be stuffed, so I grudgingly sat over beside the griffin in the driver’s area. The griffin cracked his whip in the air and the guards started carrying the wagon forward. I settled down and made myself as comfortable as I could. Which was pretty difficult as we were travelling via pony-drawn wagon.
“I don’t know how, well actually I do know, but still, you’re in big business now. Years and years of service, and I never got anything this big. And you, you were just a wanderer in the Everfree a few days ago. And now you’re an assassin, and your first contract is against the Great Khan himself. Some beings are just luckier I guess.” I heard Tempered drone on some more in front of me even after I tuned him out. Old people are very talkative.
“-eaking of which, I don’t think you’re properly introduced to our driver yet. You don’t even know his name.” Some of his words slipped past my mental ward. I looked up and contemplated holding a conversation with the driver. I glanced over at him, his annoying smile still on his face.
“What’s your name?” Basic conversation starter has been used.
He didn’t even look at me, “I am Gandalf the Griffin.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“So what’s your name?”
“… Altaïr.”
The resulting silence felt strange. Almost hostile. His smile seemed to falter a little.
Let’s review the situation. I am in a caravan owned by a smuggler named Gandalf the Griffin, said caravan being pulled by my comrades disguised as slaves to get across the border into the territory of the Canine Khanate so that I could assassinate the Great Khan while dressed like one of the guards in Masyaf in a covert operation sanctioned by an envious immortal who controls heavenly bodies who will most likely stab me in the back when said operation is finished because I have limited control over the powers of an entity called Corruption and said powers are looked at negatively because the signature it gives off resembles dark magic, and this entire mess was instigated by a kleptomaniac who just couldn’t help himself.
Yeah, I’m going to ignore what I just thought and go to sleep now.
I’ve seen stranger. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Has he boarded the caravan, Silhouette?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was not a good day for Luna. The first half consisted of bickering with the local militia leaders about various issues, like the fact that the Everfree milita consisted of only six hundred and seventy two ponies and that they were going up against Deigo Noyan’s army of three thousand and Kadan Noyan’s army of five thousand. With Deigo in their grasp, his army was sure to try and come over here to rescue him. Kadan’s forces would stay behind and keep up the siege as best as they can. They’re probably marching over right now.
Right after that, there was not much else to do but review her plan. She couldn’t just expose him then and there. If he was even half as powerful as he seemed, the battle would level half the city and tire out the alicorns for a few days. Time which they do not have. Then the most ingenious idea popped into her head.
Ponies are scrutinized and looked at with disdain by both dogs and griffins alike, making it hard to spy on them. Even the slaves are not exempt, with guards monitoring every nook and cranny. Once a pony enters, they don’t return.
In comes Altaïr. With his bipedal stance and canines, he’ll probably be passed over as some kind of hairless dog by most. Judging by the ease in the way he moves in what looks like reinforced combat robes and the way his hand subconsciously inches towards the hilt of his sword whenever anypony got close, he would be labeled as a mercenary.
Luna did not have the political prowess of her sister, but she knew how to read body language. Altaïr simply looked bored and restrained. Like an actual mercenary during times of peace. All she had to do was put some bait in front of him.
“Excellent. Now assault the raider camp in Whitetail with the ponies available at the outpost. Dismissed.”
A sapient being adapts to its environment to survive and thrive. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to learn how to sleep on a caravan pulled by mini-horses in time for dawn. I had pulled all-nighters occasionally at Earth and felt like shit at the end. This time was no different. My body felt as stiff as a board of wood as I slowly made my way out of my seat. Once I was on firm ground, I twisted and heard my bones complain loudly. I could have used my powers, but I was much more wary about using it on myself after I got Eagle Vision.
Now feeling a lot more relaxed than before, I glanced over to where the ponies and griffin gathered off to and found that they were setting up a makeshift camp. At the edge of the camp, I saw Gold Rush gesture for me to come closer. I walked over to her in Altair’s swaying gait, smirking gently at my well-practiced skill. She flicked her ears impatiently at my pace.
A few more strides found me at her side. I leaned forward a little to hear her better, “So, what do you need?” She looked up and met my gaze, “Well, you know we all have our tasks right? Set up the tents, keep watch, ration supplies, that stuff.”
“Your point being?”
“We need you to scout out the area. Ponies are easy to spot and Gandalf is integral for the success of this mission.”
I gave her a look, “And I’m not?”
She shrugged, “You’re not the only bipedal mercenary. You were just the first one we could find. Minotaur mercs are simply harder to convince and want the money in advance.” Seeing my slightly disappointed expression, she playfully hit me with her hoof, “We’re not asking you to fight an army, only to see if there’s one to worry about.”
I hid my pained expression and resisted the urge to cover my groin. It was easy to forget that these ponies are stronger than they look, “You speak differently, you know that? A bit too eloquent for a soldier.”
She shrugged, “I’m nobility. Only things I could do as an earth pony in a unicorn house was look pretty and keep track of funds. Got bored and ran away to join the army,” she said nonchalantly. I nodded my head slowly and opened my mouth to say something that was burning itself in my mind since I stayed with Tempered Steel’s family, “You ponies are very open with your lives. Just about every single pony I’ve met here talked to me like I was a close friend of theirs. I’ve been dumped with so much personal information it’s kinda confusing me.”
Gold Rush’s somewhat interested expression slowly twisted into a look of understanding as I lifted the load from my mind, “Many other races were confused about that too when they encountered their first pony. Call it herd mentality or just plain friendliness, but we feel safer when there are friends around us, and what better way than making sure that they know we’re not just faces in the crowd. Now stop dawdling and get a move on.”
Two hours later revealed absolutely nothing except for a few patrols that were too distant to cause trouble. None of them saw me; probably because they were too busy fighting off various predators that were attracted to the stench of steak that appeared out of nowhere. After returning to base, I got to sleep for five hours. Then a certain someone prodded me in the stomach with his very sharp talon to wake me up.
The cycle of traveling, scouting, and sleeping continued for the next few days. It was extremely boring. So I took the time to break up the monotony by getting to know my companions better. Tempered Steel was an old war veteran longing for one more glorious battle. Cherry Tap and Whole Grain were cousins from a family of prominent farmers, Thunder Strike was a pseudonym and her real name was Autumn Wind, Gold Rush and Blueblood were rich, and Gandalf doesn’t seem to trust me. The last one mildly worried me. He seemed rather friendly to me when we met.
On the fourth day, we arrived at the city where the Great Khan was supposed to be at. The guards at the gate were suspicious of a caravan arriving in the dead of night and halted us. One pouch of gold later and we were inside the city. And what a city it was. The first thing to notice was that there were no tall buildings. The second thing was that there were loads and loads of soldiers. They roamed around in small groups. They weren’t very well-armed though. Half of them didn’t have armor and I spotted a few without any weapons at all.
I looked around as we proceeded through the city. As we reached our destination, a dilapidated warehouse that I was sure would fall on our heads, I managed to glean a few more facts from the surroundings. The griffons were angry; a riot had started and was put down by lethal force. The ponies were angry; one had killed a dog and was about to be put down when the executioner was swarmed by ponies and torn apart before being suppressed by several other dogs. The dogs were paranoid; I saw one dog brain another one with his mace as the other accidentally surprised him. The atmosphere was tense, and chaos was just waiting to be unleashed. I was only willing to oblige.
The moment we bundled into the warehouse, the ponies immediately cast off their rags and retrieved their armor from the three wagons. I was given the task of unloading the actual goods of the wagons. Gandalf left to talk to some of his contacts. After I unloaded all the crates, I was rewarded with boredom and inactivity as I waited for Gandalf to return. After the first hour, I gave up and left the building in search of stuff to do.
Asking around saw me going to a district that was controlled by pony slaves that had risen up against the dogs. Unlike the other parts of the city, the roads in this district were caked in fecal matter, urine, and bits of junk. I wisely made the decision to walk on a side path. A few minutes saw me in the center of the district watching ponies trample on dogs armed with rubber chickens. The strain of using my powers made itself known as an annoying headache.
Totally worth it.
I watched with a contented smile on my face as the ground was stained with the blood of the enemy. That contented smile returned to a neutral expression as the ponies rushed towards me.
Crap.
Bipedal equals enemy.
“For the Diarchy!” A raving pony yelled as he galloped towards me. The chorus of frenzied responses would have probably unsettled me had I not already taken off. I know if I’m outmatched. Anything could be swarmed and overpowered, even if you were nigh immortal. I dashed around a corner and rushed through a surprised guard group who recognized my form and stature enough to not swing at me. They would buy me some time. I confirmed it after glancing back and seeing fanatical ponies charge the small group. By the time I reached the warehouse I was panting and close to collapse.
I find it somewhat amusing that you’re dressed as Altaïr and out of breath for what he considers a small exercise. He’d be rolling in his grave if he actually existed.
It’s not funny at all.
“What’s not funny?” I swore under my breath as I realized I spoke out loud. I looked up and saw Gandalf looking at me curiously, his distrustful eyes seemingly scanning me for a sign. “Nothing,” I intoned, trying to keep the exhaustion out of my voice and failing completely. The corners of Gandalf’s beak twitched, “I see,” he responded, slightly dragging the last word.
I flinched inwardly, the unnatural neutrality in his voice unsettling me. Gandalf looked at me creepily, intensifying the awkwardness of the situation. “So…” I said as I tried to defuse the situation, “… what do we do now?”
The tension around us faded and we both relaxed a little. “I have gotten word that the Great Khan has called forth the nearby Noyans for a war council in light of the pony resistance. The meeting will take place in thirty minutes. The griffins have agreed to revolt if you succeed in assassinating him. You know what you have to do.”
I feel so much like James Bond getting briefed on his latest mission.
Yeah, but we all know how this is going to end. An immortal equipped with the powers of creation and a bunch of dogs with clubs? Not even a chance.
Luna inanely levitated another piece of parchment in front of her, stopping only to skim the contents before scribbling something at the bottom. Paperwork. Luna silently cursed her far-too-benevolent sister. What need would Equestria ever have of yet another statue of Celestia? Or for her to cut some ribbon in front of a newly made establishment? Anypony could do that! The first one, she could understand. But the pointlessness of the second was rather off-putting.
But of course, her sister had caved in. She erected monuments of herself and cut ribbons and went to parties and did just about every ridiculous thing the ponies wanted short of actually managing the Diarchy. And the ponies loved her for it.
She tried the cutting ribbon thing once. She thought that the oversized scissors were rather boring, so she tried something else. She took a sword out of the armory and enchanted it to burn with ethereal flames. The entire time the event took place; ponies were paying attention to the sword instead of its wielder. While she had expected that, she did not expect the looks of fear and apprehension directed at her after she relinquished it to a courier to return it to the armory. After that, she resolved to not engage in any more of those pointless tasks. She returned to the shadows of the Diarchy, working endlessly to keep it together. It was a thankless task, and she knew it, but she felt a pang of envy inside her whenever she saw her being applauded by their subjects whenever she arrived.
But that was why she was doing this without telling her sister. A monster of evil slipped past her sister’s supposedly all-seeing eyes (at least, according to those who were fanatical about her) into her gaze. If all goes according to plan, she would be greatly respected by both ponies and griffins alike. Their false hero would fall by her hoof and she would have everything to gain. Luna hummed a cheerful tune as she worked and filled out her papers with far more enthusiasm than before.
A shaggy old dog was slumped on his gem-studded seat. At his sides stood his honor guard. The four of them stood at attention, watching the occupants of the room with alert eyes. The round table which took up half the room was completely occupied, save for five seats. The Great Khan and his Noyans silently awaited the arrival of Deigo and Kadan. The Great Khan didn’t show it outwardly, but he was worried. He didn’t worry about Deigo, the pup was always out in the field and showed little regard for the council meetings which usually just amounted to things like ‘kill x’ and ‘attack this’. But he was worried about Kadan. He never missed meetings, even if his presence wasn’t necessary.
Barring their eyes, none of the attendees moved when a scrawny messenger dog creaked open the door and stood before them. Overcome with the gazes cast upon him, the messenger stuttered, “K-kadan will not be attending this war council,” he gained some courage and spoke clearly, “Deigo Noyan has been captured by the enemy in the Everfree. Deigo’s remaining forces are moving to attack the Everfree ponies along with a quarter of Kadan’s forces. Kadan himself will be coordinating the assault.”
All eyes turned to the shaggy dog. “Well, I suppose we should start then,” he croaked out.
Oh nephews of mine, what have you gotten yourselves in to?
Infiltrating the castle was easy enough. Avoiding the guards was somewhat harder. Getting around the castle was a nightmare.
I’m pretty sure we already passed this room twice.
I consider myself a patient person.
Didn’t we just come from here?
But even I have limits.
Fuck this shit. I mean it.
If I wasn’t on an important mission, I would have admired the fact that the diamond dogs managed to set this up in two months. But right now, I just wish that I could just magic up a few explosives and blow it all to the heavens.
That would require explanations we don’t have. It would also make Celestia suspicious and make Luna stab us in the back harder than she already will.
Aren’t you supposed to be comic relief?
I ignored the response given to me and stalked forward. The castle wasn’t as big as the one in the Everfree, but it was still big enough to have me walking in circles. I waited for a pair of guards to walk by before skulking into the room across the hallway. Eagle Vision is a wonderful thing.
It can’t see through walls though. That would have made my job a hell of a lot easi- aw shit.
The room was circular and bare aside from two torches. And the two guards inside. I quickly ducked back into the hall before I could be seen.
This is odd. Aside from the guys at the gates, everyone else is patrolling. Those dogs are guarding a door. Maybe the door to the war council?
I risked a peek around the doorway. Yup. Still not moving. No windows either.
Windows. Wait a second.
I looked out the windows to my left and saw nothing. No ledges or conveniently placed bricks to jump to and no windows to enter the room they were guarding. I got the same result with the windows to my right.
One way in, one way out. I patted the miniature crossbow Gandalf had given me along with a few throwing knives and a dagger.
The crossbow had only one shot, intended for the Great Khan. One of Gandalf’s contacts was with an alchemist and she dipped the bolt in the poison she made, saying that even a scratch could kill a minotaur. The dagger wasn’t anything special, just something to stab things with. The alchemist was reluctant to poison it as she thought I might kill myself with it. Naturally, I insisted. The three throwing knives were poisoned as well, although after I was done she kept away from me and my equipment muttering something in Griffin.
I readied myself and took one more peek. The dogs were heavily armored, almost as armored as Deigo Noyan. They stood still, with one of them holding a spear and the other holding a halberd. The spearman(dog?) had a sword in his belt.
I am not equipped for this.
Maybe if you had brought the sword…
It would have been harder for me to sneak with me wearing it.
…You don’t have any imagination at all. You could have shrunk it.
I don’t need someone telling me I’m stupid right now! … Actually, you just gave me an idea.
I looked at the dog with the halberd and started concentrating.
What are you, oh. OHHHHH. Alright then.
The dog didn’t notice it at first. When the room started rapidly getting bigger he turned to his companion and started barking at him. While the spear… wielder lowered his weapon and scooped up his friend, who was about twelve inches tall at this point, I endured the sensation of pain as best as I could and charged in with my dagger.
The larger dog didn’t expect the wild stabbing he was about to get and ended up with a mess of a neck. The smaller dog yelped as he fell and I mauled him with my many frantic attacks. I wasn’t in the state to care that I managed to kill two formidable foes or the bloody carnage.
Aghhh! Fuck! Someone put a fucking hammer to my head!
That someone is you.
Thankfully, the pain wasn’t anywhere close to the amount I got for giving myself Eagle Vision. So instead of excruciating pain and a blackout, I got what was equal to a hangover. I quickly moved back out the hallway and was relieved when I didn’t see guards coming at me. The guys behind the door probably heard that.
I didn’t hesitate. I charged towards the door with the crossbow in hand, the adrenaline blocking out some pain. Not all of it, but enough to make it tolerable. I threw the door open and the sight of dogs clad in armor with emblems confirmed my suspicions. I took aim and fired at the most important dog in the room before dashing away with some of them on my trail.
If I missed or got the wrong guy Gandalf, I’m sorry. But right now, I’m busy trying not to get myself impaled.
Or bisected. Or chewed up. Or torn to pieces.
You are very cheerful right now. I don’t like that.
“So it’s settled then. We kill the rebel leaders in public view and leave their bodies on pikes to warn the others. If not, we kill all of them,” the shaggy old dog announced. At that moment, the gathered Noyans and Great Khan heard a yelp from just behind the door.
As if taking unseen cues, they all fell silent and readied themselves. Kaldor Noyan in particular was moving to assault the intruder from the side as he entered. The Great Khan gripped his axe with both hands and eyed the door.
The door burst open and the bipedal intruder fired into the room with his crossbow before making a run for it. Kaldor howled in rage as the intruder entered before he got into position and gave chase. The Great Khan heard a raspy noise from beside him and saw that the shaggy old dog was clawing at his chest. The Great Khan looked at his honor guard with something akin to regret in his eyes.
I’m sorry old friend. But it looks like I was right to be paranoid.
He looked at the remaining Noyans who hadn’t dashed out of the room, “All of you! When I give the signal, I want you to kill all the rebels and rioters! Show no mercy. After this, we march for Canterlot and Everfree!” He turned to the rest of the honor guard, “Ring the alarm bells! Tell the people that the Great Khan is dead!”
He glanced at the shaggy old dog . You will be avenged.
“Silhouette, give Us your report,” Princess Luna said, breaking her usual language in favor of briskness. “There isn’t much to report, Your Majesty. We didn’t find anything unusual, except for these.” With those words, a mace and a spear were dropped to the floor.
Princess Luna stepped forward and scrutinized them carefully. After a few seconds, she looked back to Silhouette, “We don’t see anything wrong with these weapons. What is so unusual about them?”
“When we brought back the weapons to stock our armory, we had a blacksmith inspect them. He noticed that some of the weapons were longer than others of the same kind. It’s not much really, but it was unusual.”
“… Very well then. Return to your post.”
As Silhouette shut the door to the room, Luna sighed. Aside from the pony who turned into a slug, there wasn’t much evidence saying that Altaïr was an evil sorcerer. In fact, he was rather passive and modest when he was taking his reward for bringing in Deigo Noyan. Definitely not how the evil sorcerers she fought acted like.
Maybe We acted too hastily.
“PRINCESS!” A pegasus pony’s voice interrupted her musing. Luna turned to gaze at the pegasus hovering outside her window. “What is the mea-“
“Princess! An army is marching towards Everfree. From what the scouts have reported, the army is at least four thousand in number! They are half a day’s distance to us.”
Without a word, Luna’s horn glowed and opened a chest, revealing her armor.
“Warn Celestia about this matter. I will prepare the levies.”
A violent howl emerged from the room a second after I passed through the doorway of the circular room. I turned to my right and swore loudly as two guard dogs entered the corridor.
I quickly turned around to spot a gigantic dog built like a mountain come through the doorway. I jumped back as he made a swing with a mace the size of my head.
Just my luck.
I heard several angry barks from the two guard dogs as they charged towards me. I quickly assessed my options.
Left? Nope. Right? Nope. Window? Wait, window!
With no other options left, I leapt through the window. Just as I got through the window, the now familiar feeling of being hit with a mace struck me in the back of my head. So instead of landing on my legs, and possibly breaking some bones, I landed on my face.
Ouch.
I hate maces.
Kaldor Noyan looked down at the unmoving body of the intruder in satisfaction. The back of the grayish hood was soaked in blood. He shook his head.
Foolish assassin.
He slung his mace around his sheath and turned towards the two guards. “Weren’t you two supposed to keep intruders out?” he growled, baring his teeth at them.
To their credit, they didn’t run. Instead, they flinched a little before looking away. Kaldor shook his head, “Go dispose of the body. You’re lucky I haven’t executed you two for your incompetence.” The two dogs quickly walked away from him with their tails in between their legs.
Kaldor Noyan’s face twisted in contempt. If it weren’t for the fact that they needed every single ‘soldier’ they had, he would have killed them on the spot. There was no room for failure in the Khanate.
The sounds of battle made his head turn towards the window. With his keen eyes, he made out the shapes of dogs and ponies fighting just a street away from the castle. He growled to himself, “The insolence… to rebel this near to the castle.”
He walked towards the entrance of the castle, his mace unslung and ready for battle. “Our Khan has grown soft if he thinks that dogs can live with inferior beings. The only fate for them is death.”
An orange pony burst through the entrance wielding a rusty shortsword likely looted from a dog conscript. He gave a roar and charged the foolish rebel. As he smashed down his opponent, he failed to notice the two dead guards bearing several slash wounds just some distance away.
The Great Khan shuddered. He had done this several times already, but it always felt strange to change forms. Before him lay a simple golden ring. The dog who wore it was currently being buried with the highest honors that came with his rank.
He glanced over at the table, where a similar ring rested.
How many times have those things saved my life? Twice? Thrice?
For as long as he could remember, his family had been interested by magic. One day, his father had been contacted by a being who called itself ‘Kris-a-lys’ that claimed to have great magic. His father was skeptical, until the strange being surrounded itself with a green flame and turned into an identical copy of himself.
Krisalys told his father that she had discovered about his interest in magic and was offering a deal. His father was to gather as many dogs as he could and assist her in taking over her own tribe and in exchange, she would give them the ability to change form. His father hesitated for only a moment before agreeing.
During the battle that ensued, the hired blades that stood with his father deserted after the enemy changelings took their own form. Only a score of fighters, including himself and his father, remained with the few dozen changelings that stood with Krisalys against enemies thrice their number. After somehow winning the battle, Krisalys was impressed by his family’s loyalty. She went over to his father and admitted that at first, she wasn’t going to honor the deal. His father had become extremely furious when he heard that and was about to strike at her before she interrupted him.
Krisalys told him that while she couldn’t give him the ability to change forms at will, she could give him the ability to swap forms with another. And so she gave him two rings from the tribe’s various treasure. His father wasn’t satisfied with that and demanded more. Krisalys became irritated at that and sent them away, stating that she would in the future. His father wanted to argue, but the looks the changelings were giving him dissuaded him from doing so.
Several years of military service afterward, he became a Noyan after being appointed to the position by the Great Khan of the time after one of the other Noyans got himself killed by the griffin invaders. The Great Khan died a few months later and the next election started. He was planning to vote for Caffan Noyan, who was his best friend and a talented leader. It was a shock to him when the majority voted for him. He walked towards his quarters, stunned that he somehow won. Oktar Noyan walked up to him as he stood before the modest tent that were the commander’s quarters. “The Queen always honors her debts.” he growled before his eyes flashed green.
The Great Khan shook his head. The nostalgia was getting to him. How long was he just staring at a ring? He noticed the rays of the setting sun.
I’m getting old.
He picked up both rings and motioned to one of his honor guard. The dog who stepped forward was a well-built, black dog standing a full head over the shaggy blonde dog. The two both put on a ring and the results were almost instantaneous. In a flash of green flame, the black dog stared at the almost comical image of a shaggy dog in oversized armor.
“Next time, remember to take your armor off before we swap.” the black dog growled.
Gandalf looked at me in surprise, “You’re still alive?”
I didn’t feel the need to reply in my usual way, “Yes. Why are you surprised?” Gandalf shrugged, “I just didn’t expect you to survive infiltrating a fortress filled with several more than capable warriors.”
Gandalf gestured over to a dozen nearby minotaurs, who were looking at me in mild interest. “I was actually about to send over these mercenaries to go over to the castle and attack while the enemy sends out their dogs to fight against the rebels at the gates. The plan was that while the Great Khan is being escorted out of the castle towards the nearest war camp, we’d send over griffin rebels with the guards that we managed to sneak in to strike while every dog in the city is busy with the open rebellion.”
“That plan was thrown out when we got the announcement,” he continued, “Somehow, you’ve managed to kill the Great Khan. Unfortunately, almost all of his Noyans, and their armies, are still alive and in one area. If the Noyans get their messengers to the war camps, we’ll have literally tens of thousands of dogs swarm this city and putting down every single non-dog they can find.”
He leaned closer to me, “But before we talk about that, I’d like you to tell me if you really killed the Great Khan. I told you how he looks like, now you tell me.”
“He was shaggy, a bit short, uh, blonde fur. He sat on a throne with gems, you said he liked gems right?” Gandalf’s intense expression started to relax, “Are you sure you killed him?” he chirped out.
I thought back for a moment, “Yeah, I hit him with the poisoned crossbow bolt.”
He gave a sigh of relief, “Well that gets rid of one problem. The dogs will be delayed, even for a little while.” He looked towards the mercenaries who were already walking towards a nearby fight.
I cringe a little as one of them smashed in a dog’s face with a mace. I could relate with the dog way too easily.
Gandalf grimaced a little at the sight, “Anyway, you should start joining the fight as well. Messengers and officials are our priority targets. If even one messenger gets to a war camp or one officer mounts an organized defence before reinforcements come, this entire ordeal is for naught.” He spread his wings and took off, “I’ll be calling the rest of the rebels, hold them off till then!” He shut himself up as a few archers started shooting at him. I watched him somehow dodge a few arrows before rising above the clouds.
“Hey you! What you doing here?!” I turned my head and saw a sword-wielding dog wearing leather armor heading a patrol. As soon as I turned my head, the dog tilted his head to one side, “You not dog! Attack!”
I slowly unsheathed my sword and raised it like the badass I was as the patrol charged me.
You mean, ‘like an idiot who doesn’t know how to really fight’.
You’ve been quiet for some time. I think I liked it better that way.
Luna struck the filthy invader’s face with her warhammer. Not even looking towards her side, she launched a number of conjured daggers at the dog cluster to her left. Luna smiled inwardly. Now this is more like it. No endless piles of paperwork, no snooty nobles fabricating claims to the kingdom, just enemies to defeat.
With one stroke of her warhammer, she swept away two dogs right in front of her. A pony of authority must have the strength to enforce their authority. Seeing no enemies nearby, she watched as her sister faced against three dogs at the same time.
A grimace was plastered on her sister’s face as she blocked a spear with her greatsword. Her grimace tightened as she cut all of them half in one stroke. Celestia's eyes remained averted from the gruesome scene as she charged another group that was burning down a house. Luna rolled her eyes at her sister’s softness.
War is bloody, sister. We advise that thou get used to it.
“Princess!” A guardspony in full armor dashed over to her.
Luna didn’t look back as she launched more conjured daggers at a few archers some distance away. “Speak.”
“We have managed to repulse the attack on the south side-”
Luna looked at him impatiently and he flinched. A few guardsponies have engaged a small group of dogs by the well and she wanted to participate as well.
“Tell Us something We don’t know.”
“The garrison is at half strength, a sixth to death and the rest to injury. We don’t know how much longer we can hold out.”
Back at the well, the ponies managed to drive back the dogs, cheering as they did so. Luna sighed before digesting the information given to her, “Are the pegasi ready?”
“The last I had heard, the clouds are almost charged.”
Luna picked up her warhammer with her magic, “Give them a little more time, then give the signal.”
As she crushed a few more canine skulls, she idly wondered what happened to Altaïr. There was no way a being of that power would die so easily at the hands of these weaklings. But the Great Khan was said to be as sharp as a razor and may have wriggled out of whatever hole he was hiding in.
Her next swing only knocked a dog down instead of killing it. Luna quickly remedied that with a downward swing.
We must not worry. We have made several back-up plans and Gandalf is clever enough to set in motion half of them at the same time.
Luna was brought out of her musings with a start as a spear scraped against her armor. She shoved her doubts to the back of her mind as she eradicated the toothy grin the speardog had on his face.
Out in the distance, thunder rumbled as lightning struck the attacking forces. One particular dog attracted Luna’s attention amidst the panicked horde. He was about the same height as the other dogs, and wore the same weapons and armor. Luna would have dismissed him as more cannon fodder if it wasn't for the way he carried himself, the way he maintained his composure as he tried to rally the dogs together.
Her horn lit up and she shot a destructive blast of energy at the commander. The commander’s eyes widened as he saw the bright blast heading straight for him. He quickly dove for the side and the blast whizzed harmlessly past him and into an unlucky warrior who promptly exploded into bits.
The commander stood up and snarled at her, his eyes alight with fury, and motioned to the dogs around him to charge, which they gladly did.
Luna smirked at the display.
It seems that there is actually a competent mutt amongst this rabble.
She looked to the ponies around her. Several were on the ground, either unconscious, dead, or about to be dead. The remainder were fighting like animals backed into a corner.
Seeing as we are severely outnumbered, the levies seem to be doing fine.
Luna looked back at the commander and his entourage who were slowly approaching her, the commander himself had a wary expression mixed with a little hate, and was that?
The commander is wise enough to fear Us, it seems.
Luna waited patiently as they made a semicircle around her. She never looked away from the commander and ignored the few arrows that managed to strike her helm and chest armor. Soon enough, the commander’s advance ground to a halt, with all the dogs involved having uncertain looks in their faces. She smiled a sweet smile, “May We begin?”
Kadan Noyan bit back a yelp as the dog next to him went down to a lightning bolt. This was not good for morale.
The princess he was facing broke eye contact with him and frowned at the sky. Sensing an opening, Kadan and his dogs rushed in a half-arc.
In an instant, the blue pony's eyes flashed back to him. A gigantic warhammer curved the air. Two overenthusiastic dogs who charged faster than he did turned into paste. Out of the corner of his eye, Kadan could see more than one dog hesitate.
The princess lowered her head. Her horn flashed and a gout of orange flames rushed out from the tip. Kadan barely managed to dodge to the side as the fire lapped the bodies of the two dogs on his flanks.
Without pausing for breath, Kadan charged again. Hesitation meant death here.
Only four dogs remained with him, the rest having fled for easier prey or killed. If he didn't act fast enough, he'd end up as the latter.
The princess smirked as she swung the warhammer with her magic, narrowly missing Kadan as he hopped backwards to avoid the blow.
His eyes widened as her horn shone again and threw himself flat against the ground. A destructive blast flying over his ears confirmed his suspicions. He rolled to his left as a warhammer crashed down where he used to be.
One of the dogs smacking her in the helmet with a mace granted him a small reprieve from the princess' wrath. Eyes blazing with fury, her horn lit up and a small force bubble shoved back the three dogs closest to her before she unfurled her wings and took to the air, warhammer and all.
Kadan growled as the cowardly princess hung in the air above them, a furious expression on her face. He turned towards the remaining dogs and pointed at the princess, "Ranged weapons!"
As the four fumbled for their hand axes and throwing spears, Kadan picked up a bow and a quiver full of arrows from one of the nearby corpses. A yelp made him turn around to see one frightened dog with a throwing spear lying next to a small crater.
He looked up at the princess, who was now looking at him. A small smile now graced her features, but Kadan was more worried about the glowing horn on her head. His heart racing, he nocked an arrow and let it fly.
The arrow flew past the princess.
He scrambled to the side to flee, but managed to catch himself as a warhammer smacked the air an inch from his face. He turned to run the other way, but something stopped him. He looked at the blue aura surrounding him in horror as the warhammer rose into the air once more. Only to drop to the floor with a heavy thud.
A primal instinct screaming that he should flee while he could rose up to the forefront of his mind.
Luna glared at the spear thrower she had almost forgotten about. Inwardly, she cursed.
Has it really been so long since Our last real fight?
Grabbing the now terrified dog with her magic, she flung him up and away as far as she could.
Ignoring the sounds of battle around her, she scanned the area. The commander had fled. She huffed angrily.
Spotting a pair of dogs by the inn, she sped towards them with her warhammer in her hooves instead of her magic. It was time to do this the Earth Pony way.
Kadan panted heavily as he leaned against a nearby wall. The constant lightning flashes kept his fur prickling in apprehension.
A cursory glance at himself told him that he managed to escape with nary a scratch. Unlike the others, he realized with a sinking feeling.
He shook his head. He can think about this later. He had a town to take.
He grinned, his yellowing teeth contrasting sharply with his brown coat. The princesses are going to have a nasty surprise if they think that's all we've got.
He pushed himself off the wall. No time for rest. Hesitation meant death.
Princess Celestia stared at the body in front of her for a few seconds before shaking her head.
Why was she doing this? Because the dogs are the enemy.How did it come to this? Because they wouldn’t accept any compromise.
All these questions and more buzzed through her mind as she swung her weapon back and forth and side to side.
Something was not right.
In the midst of her red-hazed vision, the swinging of her greatsword became more mechanical and automatic. As she waded through the flood of dogs with her weapon at bay, the piercing death cries became all too normal. Spotting a coat of brown in the corner of her eye, she swung her sword. And stopped mid-arc at the sight of a horn.
Celestia blinked. Before her lay a small foal, crying with her hooves hiding her face. Celestia's maternal instinct kicked in and the golden aura surrounding her sword blinked out of existence as she dropped down to try and comfort the foal.
The foal backed up rapidly as Celestia's hoofsteps sounded down the road, "Mommy!" she screamed.
"It's okay, young one," Celestia murmured into the foal's ear as she spread a wing over her. She glanced at their surroundings for enemies before deeming it was clear enough for her to stay a few minutes.
The foal, who stopped bawling as soon as she felt the wingtips, started sniffling instead. "Do you know where your parents are?" Celestia's ears remained alert as she lowered her head to meet with the foal.
A few seconds of silence passed, broken only by the foal's sniffling and the distant sounds of battle. The foal slowly shook her head.
"A-Are you Princess Celestia?" the foal whispered. Celestia allowed herself a small sigh before replying, "How did you know?"
The foal slowly started to raise her head from her hooves, "I heard you speak on the square befo-" the foal's eyes met her gaze.
The foal grew still under Celestia's wing. It dawned on Celestia that moment that maybe she wasn't in the best state to comfort anypony as the foal's pupils shrank to prinpricks.
The color started draining out of the foal's face by the time Celestia decided to look at herself. She suddenly became aware of a warm, wet feeling on her body as she craned her head to look over herself.
The white fur on her fetlocks was almost dyed red in canine blood. And so was her front armor, the red tint integrating with the golds and whites to the point where it looked almost natural.
Her bloodied wingtips made little, red marks on the foal as she withdrew them. The foal's eyes started tearing up again.
No.
A golden glow encompassed the foal. The sleep spell gradually took effect as the foal's features relaxed until small snores replaced the whimpers.
Celestia stood over the foal, a silent sentinel. Another golden glow, a warmer one, surrounded the sleeping filly.
She galloped towards the defence line, foal in telekinetic grasp. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A whirlwind of death surrounded Luna like an invisible aura. Any dog that stepped foot in it never came out in one piece. Overhead, lightning struck dogs who deigned to aim their bows at her.
After smashing a particularly large dog's head into itty-bitty pieces, Luna took a brief pause to survey her surroundings. Smacking aside a few opportunistic dogs, she frowned at the sight in front of her.
A veritable swarm flowed around the streets. For every one dog they cut down, three more popped up, eager to smash bones and pierce flesh. By the occassional scream, Luna mused, they were getting what they wanted.
She fought the urge to flinch as a guardspony pegasus fell out of the sky and smashed to the ground in front of her.
After casting a few more destructive blasts at the tightly packed streets, Luna reared and smacked around a few more dogs, quickly stepping over the still-twitching pegasus.
Out of the corner of her vision, a few battered guardsponies fought desperately to hold the line. A unicorn whose helmet had been torn off spouted a few gouts of flame from her horn while two earth ponies had resorted to grabbing dog-made clubs to replace their broken spears.
In a burst of speed, a midnight blue blur exploded into the ranks of the dogs. Crude clubs and blunt swords glanced off of her armor as she tore through dog after dog in a flurry of magic-fueled speed.
Cries of terror and panic spread around her as she cleared a path through them. Even with the rush of adrenaline, Luna could feel her magic reserves draining below half.
Immediately, she flung out her wings and took to the air. Flying several feet above the heads of the combatants, she narrowed her eyes and sped past the lines of the dogs. Weaving through the waves of arrows, spears, and rocks, she picked out a few areas leading towards the back of the army and devoid of ponies. In a breath, beams of explosive magic trailed out of her horn and into her targets. A ragged cheer was heard in the distance as the dogs scrambled away from the large craters and bunched themselves into even larger groups. A second salvo erupted from her horn and exploded several packs into red mist and body parts.
Luna allowed herself a little smile before wincing as a wayward arrow hit its mark. She glared at the general direction of the archer responsible before pulling herself back into friendly lines. The trip back wasn’t nearly as fast or as safe now that the dogs were wise to her antics and she was close to tiring. She held back a few gasps as a few arrows embedded themselves into her padded stomach.
She looked back at the battered line and was pleased to see that reinforcements had arrived. “It looks like those mercenaries from Whitetail arrived in time after all,” Luna murmured to nopony in particular.
Satisfied that the line wasn’t going to break the moment she left, she cantered towards the medical tents.
After some time, I had decided that I didn’t like this city.
smack
The food was decent. And while the atmosphere was tense, it wasn’t all that bad.
“Wuzz wrong with you!”
The only thing I really had a problem with was the company.
thud
I painfully got back to my feet as I was knocked back once more. I balefully glared at the dogs I was facing. They had shiny metal armor and weapons that looked clean and well-maintained which signalled me to the fact that these were not your standard conscript.
Things had gone well enough at first when I charged in. The dogs were caught off guard by the complete chaos of today and the first ones in the fight were conscripts and a few regular soldiers who were off-duty at the time. But once it was clear this was no ordinary riot, actual trained soldiers managed to get on the battlefield.
It was easy for me when I faced conscripts. Just swing my sword while occasionally experimenting with my powers and if they managed to get a supposedly fatal blow in, just wait for a few seconds and stab them while they stared in shock.
When I tried it with these guys, they just smashed me to the pavement again and again and again. And while I knew it was impossible for them to kill me, I really didn’t like the sensation of my skull caving in. Over and over.
Right now, I was facing five of them. Five well-armed and not-so-bright soldiers. The one farthest to me darted forward as soon as I readied my sword. I took a risk and lunged forward with my sword. The dog didn’t expect this and the enchanted metal cut through his armor. The rest of them took the opportunity to strike while my weapon was sheathed in a body. Seeing them gang up on me, I may or may not have panicked and tried to wrench my sword out of the dog it was impaled on.
It sliced through the dog like butter and slashed through the face of a dog on the right. It was not a fatal wound though for he simply howled in pain and brought his paws up to his face, dropping his weapon in the process. Everyone else to my left was free to act, however.
The closest dog to my left slugged me sidewards with his mace, making me drop my weapon and stagger backwards. The other two capitalized on this and the battle turned to their favor. One of them swung his waraxe towards my gut and I felt the strangest sensation of my innards nearly dangling out of me before immediately sealing up.
The pain I was feeling now in the back of my head was starting to grow, and with a start I remembered I had an eldritch abomination locked inside me who would burst through my mind if I used too much power. Power which at the moment was healing up every single wound I got. A bolt of pure fear made rational thought possible again as I was being pummeled into a stain.
I weathered the blows as stoically as I could, which wasn’t saying much, before sensing an opportunity as the dog with the waraxe swung for my head. I ducked my head down a little and let the axe cleave through my jaw. Then, as realistically as I could, I leaned backwards a little before falling forward on my face.
The quietest silence I ever heard rang out loud in my ears as I willed with all my might to stay as injured as I was. A deathly numbness was spreading across my jawline as I desperately awaited them to leave.
I have to admit, this is actually kind of clever.
I could sense one of the dogs fighting me stoop over my hopefully motionless form.
“Iz he actually dead dis time, boss?” I could smell the scent of cheap beer from an unwashed mouth. Yet another reminder that I was not in a family friendly cartoon.
Abruptly, an axe shot down and rammed itself into my back. I didn’t shout. The literally mind-numbing pain in my head was taking up any care I had for other damage.
Almost as soon as it landed, the axe was ripped out of my back, “He ain’t faking it. C’mon now boys, we gotta give da message.”
“Can I have his sword, boss? It cut through Lig’s armah like it was nuthin.”
“That was prolly just a trick. He seemed like onea dem magic warriors. Look at tha’ thing. It looks like piss.”
I heard the distinct sound of metal hitting stone, “See? Didn’t e’en make a mark. C’mon then, let’s go.”
Good thing it was the wall and not you they tried it on.
I lay quietly against the blood-covered stone as they fumbled back into formation. I lay still for a few seconds after the sound of their footsteps faded away before relaxing and letting my regen thing take over. In the back of my mind, I marveled at how normal that sounded to me right now.
Even as I felt skin mend itself and bones jump back into position, I felt an eerie chill crawl over me. I would never get used to that.
The healing or the getting torn apart?
I also couldn’t understand how a voice in my head could somehow give a sarcastic tone. In any case, I felt myself growing calmer as I returned to normal, torn clothing aside. Risking a peek, I looked up and saw that the street was empty of everything but the corpse of the dog I impaled and my sword, which was lying a few feet away from it.
I tried picking myself off the floor and failed. I was simply too tired. Not the physical kind of tiredness that comes with swinging a large piece of metal around all day, but weariness at the events of the day mixed with a little dread of what would happen next.
Assassinating a head of state, falling from a castle window, taking part in an all-out war that probably wasn’t my business, getting hit by maces and hammers. Oh God, the maces... What the fuck was I doing?! And for what?!
Come to think of it, they haven’t actually told us what the reward would be. Huh.
Be quiet!
…
… I don’t even know anymore. I want to go home. I don’t want to be here.
I could feel tears running down my face, but I was too scared to let out a sob that might attract more attention. With herculean effort, I hauled myself to my knees. It was only then that I noticed the inordinately large puddle of blood I was kneeling in. I could feel bile rising in the back of my throat at the sight. This was wrong. Nobody should be able to bleed this much.
Regeneration is a thing.
I barely acknowledged the voice in my head. All this blood was mine. This was most definitely wrong. I looked at the dead body ahead of me. I barely glanced at all the other dogs I killed. But now it held my attention. Motionless body, glassy eyes, almost cut in half. I couldn’t hold it in anymore.
I threw up on the floor. And when I smelt the mixture of blood and vomit in the heat of the afternoon sun, I threw up some more. Panting, I thought to myself how pathetic I must look right now, kneeling in a mix of blood and vomit with tear stains on my face.
I didn’t care. I didn’t care that my costume was ruined. I didn’t care about the distant sounds of battle. All I cared about was how wrong it felt to be here.
I knelt there in silence for what felt like ages, but were likely just a few minutes, before slowly getting to my feet. I wordlessly walked over to my sword and picked it up. The blood on the blade shone in the light. I didn’t bother cleaning it off.
I gave an empty look at the body of the dog before moving inside one of the nearby stores. In my head, I knew I wasn’t going to end up like him. No, he was the lucky one. If I got hit one too many times, my soul would be snapped up like a worm on a hook. The thought alone sent chills along my newly reformed spine.
But that’s not happening.
A feeling I identified as determination washed through my very being, warming my thoughts and body. The steps I took were more confident and strong.
I’ve survived Atlantic City. I could do this.
It appeared to be a rug store. Nothing too useful. I walked over to the other side and peered through the curtains. Just outside was a pair of dogs that were looting the dead bodies of a few griffins. They were regulars, if their armor and weapon condition is a good indicator. And, I thought as I shrank their armor, they were as good as dead. It took a little time and pain, as well as a few yelps of surprise, but their torsos finally gave in to the shrinking armor.
I winced a little at the sight of the end result, but I brushed it off easily enough.
I will survive, no matter what I have to do.
I opened the door to the other side and walked out.
I will not take stupid risks like I had my entire life.
I spotted the wall of the city, relatively more peaceful than the rest of it. I walked towards it before suddenly realizing something very important.
Outside those walls was an army, tens of thousands strong. Gandalf had said something about killing messengers before he flew away. And those dogs had said something about giving a message. I could put two and two together and realize that shit was about to hit the fan.
By playing dead and saving myself from five, I had doomed myself to die from a thousand.
Seriously, how much were we going to get paid for something as suicidal as this?
Now that you mention it…
Now that I was not in any immediate danger, I started thinking a little. There was no mention of pay on the letter. Blunt Hoof didn’t mention anything about a reward. This plan was insane too. I analyzed it a few more times in my head and it just didn’t add up. It looked simple enough. Kill the Great Khan, band together the Griffons who would have rebelled anyway, and take down as many military assets as possible. And Gandalf said he’d gather reinforcements too, to help hold the walls. I found a fatal flaw almost immediately.
Where the hell would the reinforcements be?! There’s a huge-ass army somewhere close to the city. Any large force would be discovered and crushed easily, and it doesn’t make sense to just have a couple of squads on backup. This makes no sense, unless…
“My God,” I breathed out, “There are no reinforcements coming, are there?”
That sounds increasingly likely.
Things started falling into place. Those minotaur mercenaries fit into Luna’s letter when she was going on about the usefulness of two-legs on her mission. Instead of stealth, they would have brute forced it. And they were pretty good at that too. When I last saw them, they were cutting through the regulars with ease, although one or two had succumbed to battle injuries.
My companions were also picked out. Tempered was a glory hound. Gold Rush and Blueblood were rich and ran to the military. Cherry Tap and Whole Grain were part of a farming family that served directly under the Princesses, and Thunder Strike was an eager soldier. Nobody too important, and either gullible or loyal enough to just swallow the plan. Little details were coming to me, an offhand comment about Princess over family, a few boasts here and there. Never before did I think a pony’s tendency to talk about themselves would be so important to me.
One last thing came to mind, that all this was to save Canterlot. But Luna’s letter and Blunt Hoof’s plan were contradicting each other. Luna wanted to use Canterlot as a distraction, but Blunt Hoof said that this was to draw the army away from Canterlot. But since there’s already a gigantic army here, why in the world would they pull away a thousand or ten of their troops?
Calm down. You’re overthinking. There’s no way. Not even this world would be that cruel. Gandalf might come back any minute now with an army of griffins.
Or maybe we’ve been sentenced to death. The needs of the many and all that.
I quietly ignored the voice in my head as I ran back to friendly territory as fast as I could.
Luna regarded the arrow in her shoulder with a baleful look. In an instant, her horn glowed and the arrow popped out. Tossing the arrow aside without a care, she looked over the wound. A brighter glow later, and the wound sealed up.
The rest of the tent’s occupants looked at her slowly stretch herself, some with a small amount of envy at the complex healing magic done so easily. Luna trotted back out of the tent, fully healed and ready to go.
She gave the sky a passing glance and noted that it was about sunset and she should raise the moon now.
With a gentle smile on her lips, her horn glowed once more and the familiar white orb replaced the red one in the sky. She sat down on her haunches and stared silently at the moon before shutting her eyes. When she opened them, the stars had come out.
Her smile slowly turned happy to sad, “This is a beautiful full moon. It’s the least I can do.”
When she turned back to the battlefield, her face was back to it’s stoic state, “For many of us, it will be the last night they’ll ever see,” she whispered to herself.
In a flash, she was in the sky and shooting back to the front.
